Data centers contain large numbers of servers and other assets. Identifying computer assets in the physical world is often problematic in practice, where manually entered inventory information is often updated and subject to undocumented changes. Hence, it can sometimes be difficult for operations staff to quickly locate a particular asset, especially if it has been moved during a prior facility reconfiguration. Within many facilities, racks of identical and differing devices are often difficult to distinguish from each other.
Further, monitoring environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, shock loading, etc.) of the assets in a datacenter must be performed in order to ensure environmental limits are maintained in order to ensure proper operation of the assets. Monitoring of temperature is a critical concern in the datacenter and different temperature dependent labels or sensors are available. One available type of temperature dependent sensors are thermo-sensitive markers that change color (typically from white to black) when a specific threshold temperature is reached. After a specific temperature is reached, the sensor retains its color change indefinitely. Such labels are often used to indicate whether a specific asset has exceeded its operating temperature anytime in it's history. Another type of sensor is a reversible thermal label (for example, a liquid crystal thermo-foil). For this type of sensor, the current temperature status is shown typically along a moving temperature scale. The current temperature is highlighted along the scale and as the temperature increases or decreases the current temperature measurement is highlighted.
Based on the sensed temperature data, actions may be taken in the data center to prevent overheating of assets. However, keeping track of the assets and their current temperature status is difficult.